Watching dramas are one of the best and most entertaining forms of escapism, especially when they are filled with mysticism and other out-of-the-world things. From interesting plots involving folklore creatures like a gumiho – a nine-tailed fox – and a mermaid to fantasies like time travel or reincarnations, K-dramas that fall in the supernatural genre are always fun to watch.
Fantasy-oriented K-dramas usually feature love stories and are especially deep and romantic - making the series very addictive and perfect for binge-watching.
W: Two Worlds
Available to stream on Rakuten Viki.
In the K-Drama W: Two Worlds, a surgeon named Oh Yeon-Joo (Han Hyo-Joo) has a father who writes a webtoon titled W. After her father tries to kill off the comic’s main character, she finds herself inside the webtoon and face-to-face with the lead named Kang Chul (Lee Jong-Suk)
The K-drama switches between the real world and the comic world throughout its run. The show also has a great soundtrack, but it feels underutilized since the songs were mostly played during ending freeze frames. With its exciting and thrilling romance story, W: Two Worlds is a K-drama that viewers will want to binge in one go.
Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo
Starring IU and Lee Joon-Gi, Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo is a K-drama remake of the Chinese show Scarlet Heart. In the show, IU’s character named Hae-Soo goes back in time to the Goryeo era during a solar eclipse. She then meets and falls in love with an ostracized prince named Wang So (Lee Joon-Gi).
Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo mostly touches on the politics of the time, since Wang So has a fierce rivalry with another prince Wang Wook (Kang Ha-Neul). The show’s romance storyline captured the hearts of the viewers’ thanks to the charisma of its two leads.
Doom At Your Service
Risking her life, a terminally-ill woman named Tak Dong-Kyung (Park Bo-Young) makes a deal with Myul-Mang (Seo In-Guk), who is the middle man between humans and God. Dong-Kyung wishes for the world to end, since she only has 100 days to live anyway.
While it can be difficult to understand the drama’s main story, the love story between Dong Kyung and Myul-Mang is almost impalpable. There’s also an intense love triangle that makes Doom at Your Service a gripping K-drama.
Lovers Of The Red Sky
Aside from featuring fantasy elements, Lovers of the Red Sky is also a historical K-drama. The series is about a painter named Hong Cheon-Ki (Kim You-Jung), who became the first female painter to enroll in the Dohwaseo. In school, she meets and falls in love with Ha Ram (Ahn Hyo-Seop), who is the teacher in charge of geography, astronomy, and meteorology. Sadly, Ha Ram is blind, which means that he can’t appreciate Cheon-Ki’s paintings.
Other than the K-drama’s charming love story, Lovers of the Red Sky is also an informative show as it features the interesting method on how traditional Korean paintings are made.
The King: Eternal Monarch
Available to stream on Netflix.
The King: Eternal Monarch is a K-drama that uses time-travel as a plot device. There are two parallel worlds in The King: Eternal Monarch. After the modern-day Korean emperor passes through a portal, he is transported to the Kingdom of Corea, which is still in the year 1994.
The casting of Lee Min-Ho and Kim Go-Eun as the two main characters are an excellent decision. The two main actors have incredible chemistry and don’t fail to make the viewers swoon every time they’re on screen. Viewers have also loved the script and narrative of the K-drama, which steered away from popular K-drama tropes like disapproving parents and tragic illnesses.
The Tale Of A Gumiho
Lee Yoon is a gumiho (Lee Dong-Wook) who quit being a mountain god for his love and has been waiting for centuries in the hope of seeing her reincarnation. Simultaneously, there is Nam Ji-ah (Jo Bo-ah), who is searching for her parents who went missing after a car accident when she was a child.
When the two meet, Yoon sees that Ji-ah looks exactly like his first lover and even her character reminds him of her, but she doesn’t have the fox beads. Will the two finally find what they are looking for? Filled with elements of fantasy, romance, and revenge, The Tale of a Gumiho is sure to have anyone hooked.
Mystic Pop-Up Bar
Weol Ju’s (Hwang Jung-Eum) suicide under a sacred tree brings bad luck to her town. She is henceforth punished to solve the problems of 100,000 people, as that is her only way to get to her afterlife. Despite her magical ability to read dreams and the 500 years given to her, Weol-Ju struggles to meet the target. With only a month left, she luckily comes across Han Kang-bae (Yook Sung-Jae), to whom people tell their truth and concerns the moment there is any physical contact with him.
Focusing on real-life problems, Mystic Pop-Up Bar is a relatable and cathartic experience. Kang-bae’s quest for love is yet another reason to add this drama to anyone’s must-watch list.
Hotel Del Luna
In Hotel Del Luna – a hotel that serves the dead – is its CEO, Jang Man-Wol (IU), who has been fated to run the establishment because of a sin she committed. Although she no longer remembers why she is being punished, her only way to get out of the situation is to find someone who has made a bigger mistake than hers.
Joining the hotel is Goo Chan-sung (Yeo Jin-goo), who is destined to work in this weird place after Man-Wol’s dealing with his father. Will the two ever be able to escape their fates? Filled with mystic elements and interesting storylines, Hotel Del Luna is a great introductory show to those unfamiliar with K-dramas.
The Light In Your Eyes
With a magical watch that she found on a beach, Kim Hye-ja (Han Ji-min) can time travel. However, every time she uses it, she ages quickly, so when Hye-Ja uses the watch to save her father from dying in an accident, she wakes up the next day as a woman in her 70s (Kim Hye-Ja).
Before this unbelievable change, she met Lee Joon-ha (Nam Joo-hyuk), who is also an aspiring journalist like Hye-Ja, and fell in love with him. What will the fate of the two’s relationship be with Hye-Ja looking old enough to be Joon-ha’s grandmother? This is a very unique love story that is definitely worth binge-watching.
A Korean Odyssey
Having let Song Ogong (Lee Seung-Gi) escape from the marble mountain – where he was trapped as a punishment from heaven – Jin Seon-Mi (Oh Yeon-So) gets the destiny of a Sam-Jang (someone who spirits want to eat because of the power it will give them.) The only thing keeping Seon-Mi safe – and stopping Ogong from eating her like he wishes to – is the contract she made with Ogong asking him to protect her.
Seon-Mi later makes the jealous exiled being Ogong wear a magical bracelet called Geumganggo, which makes him fall in love with her more. Seon-mi – who has been an outcast all her life because of her ability to see spirits – develops feelings for Ogong as she finally feels relieved that there is someone for her. Will a romance that grows out of so many complex circumstances last?
While You Were Sleeping
Nam Hong-Joo (Bae Suzy) dreams of the bad things that are going to happen in the future. Unfortunately, she can do nothing about it, and having dreamt of herself dead in her reporter uniform, she has quit her job. She later comes across Jung Jae-chan (Lee Jong-suk), a prosecutor, and Han Woo-Tak (Jung Hae-in), a police officer, both of whom also have the ability to dream of the future.
With three of their lives intertwined, they dream of each other and help each other alter their fates, but can they really change destiny? If not for this fantasy-oriented plot, Jae Chan trying to solve his cases as a prosecutor against Lee Yoo Beom (Lee Sang Yeob) is another reason everyone can’t stop watching this K-drama until the end.
Strong Woman Do Bong Soon
When an anonymous person starts sending death threats to Ahn Min Hyuk (Park Hyung Sik), the CEO of a gaming company named AIN Software, he decides to hire a bodyguard. Coming across Do Bong Soon (Park Bo Young), a woman with herculean strength, he is awed by her and decides to hire her for the job. Although reluctant at first, interested in the probability of becoming a developer there in the future, Bong Soon joins the company.
At the same time, her childhood crush, In Guk Doo (Ji Soo), a police detective, is trying to catch a mysterious man who has been kidnapping young women from Bong Soon’s neighborhood. Will Bong Soon’s strength, which can’t be used for her own purposes, be a help for both Min Hyuk and Guk Doo in their quest?
Guardian - The Lonely And Great God
Kim Shin (Gong Yoo) is a goblin who is gifted with immortality, but at one point, the boon becomes a bane, so he yearns to end his immortal life, But the only way for him to do so is by having his goblin bride pull the sword out of him. More than nine centuries later, he has finally met his bride, Ji Eun-Tak (Kim Go-Eun), and the two begin a romantic relationship.
Living with Shin is Wang Yeo (Lee Dong-Wook), who became a grim reaper because of a sin he committed, and no matter how many generations pass, he never gets that happy ending he wishes for in his love life. Guardian - The Lonely and Great God’s moving storyline and humor are just some of the reasons to start watching it right now.
The Legend Of The Blue Sea
When Shim Cheong (Jun Jihyun), a mermaid comes to the city, she comes across Heo Joon-Jae (Lee Minho), a man who looks exactly like the nobleman who was her first and only love from the Joseon era. With Shim Cheong having nowhere to live in the city, she stays with Joon-Jae. Initially, he is only interested in her jade bracelet which is worth $6 million, but he later reciprocates her love for him.
Simultaneously, Joon-Jae’s stepmother is trying to get him killed so that her son gets all of his father’s properties. As a naive Shim Cheong survives the complicated and harsh modern world, viewers are also shown Shim Cheong’s love story from the Joseon era. In addition to its plot and romance, The Legend of The Blue Sea also delivers great humor – sure to make anyone laugh.
My Love From The Star
Available to stream on Prime Video.
When Do Min-Joon (Kim Soo-Hyun), an alien, saves Yi-Hwa (Kim Hyun-Soo) from falling down a cliff, he ends up on Earth. Cut to 400 years later, Min-Joon is only months away from returning to his home planet and that is when he meets Cheon Song-Yi (Jun Ji-Hyun), an actress. Min-Joon has previously saved young Song-Yi – who looks exactly like Yi-Hwa – from an accident, and Song-Yi has developed feelings for him since then but has no clue that it is Min-Joon, her neighbor.
Despite Min-Joon’s efforts not to fall in love with Song-Yi, he does. With the two having to choose between their love and Min-Joon’s existence, My Love From The Star is an emotional rollercoaster.
